Did you keep notes for your own amusement, because you were afraid of stalkers, because you were required to? Because it made it feel more like a regular job? To reuse particularly effective lines? Have you talked to a literary agent? The idea of taking notes is the most (to me) surprising and endearing thing about the whole business.

Well, I kept two kinds of notes: I kept a written page (a pre-spreadsheet spreadsheet, if you will) that listed: time of call, guy's first name, what he had requested (in case I forgot during the call "who" I was supposed to be), whether he was a request, and how the call basically went. I also kept a file box, organized alphabetically by first name and state. I'd list things about the guys and what they liked; that way, if they called back and requested me, they were really flattered that I "remembered" them. No, I haven't talked to a literary agent; why, do you think I should? Every once in a while, someone would ask me if I kept notes, and I would "spin" it :"well, yeah; you see, I have a terrible memory, but I wouldn't want to forget a single thing about you because you're so sweet".

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Also, do you know anything about your co-workers? Were they kids without education, grandmothers supplementing their pensions, men using vocoders?

I'll ignore for a moment the fact that I don't know what "vocoders" are. We did have a couple of guys on staff (one on each shift, IIRC), because sometimes a customer would want to talk to a couple who was getting it on. There were a lot of women like me (certainly no one under 18) who couldn't have done as well financially doing anything else; the fact we got to work from home had a lot of appeal, as well. But there were quite a few older ladies, too, who had been out of the work force for so long that they were kind of landlocked. Once a year, there was a combination Christmas party/awards ceremony, so I got to meet my fellow workers. At one of these things, it came to my attention that one of my co-workers had dated my BIL for a time.

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Did you get better with practice? Did you research and study? And if the point is to extend the calls as long as possible, what were your strategies for accomplishing that?

I absolutely got better with practice! I don't think I was very good in the first couple of months. As for research and study, I took to reading Variations for fresh ideas, etc. One of the things I liked about my company was that it sold blocks of time; a 15-minute call was $25.00 and a 30-minute call was $40.00. There was no incentive to keep them on the phone longer. If they went up to their time limit and still wanted to talk, I'd tell them to call me right back.

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Originally Posted by liirogue

How much did it pay?

And to echo some of the other posters, tell us some of your weirdest!

Well, when I started, it was $8.00/hr. plus bonus. Bonus was based on requests (guys who specifically asked for me). Up to ten requests per month, no bonus. After that, the more requests I got, the more I bonused. Most months I ended up averaging out about $15.00/hr. I also got a 1%, 2%, or 3% raise every six months.

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And to echo some of the other posters, tell us some of your weirdest!

Well, the guy who was into small dogs was pretty weird, plus frustrating, because every single freakin' thing I'd say, he'd respond with "huh?" and I'd have to repeat it. The guy with the island was strange. I had one customer liked me to tell him about jacking guys off into baby bottles and having to suck really hard to drink it all out; he was also into enemas. I loved him because he was quite intelligent, and he used to buy two hour blocks of my time, which counted as four requests. He had lots of money. I still talk to him sometimes.

I can see that sometime soon (maybe tomorrow morning), I'm going to have to go get some of my records out of the attic, and refresh my memory.

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Originally Posted by fessie

How did you keep from just cracking up laughing?

Boy, it was tough sometimes! In fact, every once in a blue moon, I'd lose it, and fake a coughing fit.

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Originally Posted by blinx

I know you wrote in the OP that this was an acting job, and I hope that asking isn't crossing the line, but did you ever get turned on by a call?